Mere weeks ago, two explosions ripped through the crowd gathered at the Boston Marathon’s finish line, killing three and injuring at least 144. Now, after a days-long manhunt, one suspect is dead while the other is wallowing in a Fort Devens prison.

The two suspects were brothers of Chechen descent, the older of whom is thought by officials to have become a radical Muslim during a recent trip to Russia. The brothers’ parents denied the possibility of any wrongdoing committed by their sons, whereas their uncle spoke harshly against their acts.

The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is seriously wounded but in stable condition. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction, the penalty for which can be death. Prominent defense lawyer Judy Clarke, who also provided legal assistance to the likes of Ted Kaczynski (the “Unabomber”) and Jared Loughner (the man responsible for shooting U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and eighteen others in January 2011), has been selected to serve as Tsarnaev’s counsel.

Since 2011, Russian security officials have been keeping tabs on the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, for suspected radical Islamist ties. Twice these officials contacted their American counterparts to warn them of possible threats, but there is no indication that the Americans did anything more than interview Tsarnaev. A Russian wiretap of a conversation between the older brother and his mother was  recently released. A portion of the conversation “vaguely discussed jihad,” reports the Huffington Post. If the phone call had indeed suggested a possible attack, and if the Russian officials released the recording to the Americans, the FBI might possibly have been able to preemptively halt the attack.

On April 29th, The Wall Street Journal reported that a female’s DNA had been found on one of the bombs. There is no clear indication as to whether the DNA belonged to an accomplice. Some security officials caution against conjecture, saying that the genetic material could have come from any number of sources and did not necessarily mean that the two men were part of a larger scheme. FBI spokesperson Jason Peck said that he is not “permitted to discuss specific aspects of the case.” However, it is reasonable to think that more information pertaining to the female DNA will surface in the coming days.

The investigation will certainly continue to unfold over the coming weeks and months. For now, we as Americans join Boston in moving forward stronger than ever.